


Inevitable

by petitecanard



Series: New Magic [2]
Category: Emelan - Tamora Pierce, PIERCE Tamora - Works, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Briar is in love, F/M, Fluff, Romance, one-shot + some extra drabbles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:34:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28916922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petitecanard/pseuds/petitecanard
Summary: Queen Dovasary Balitang of the Copper Isles watched the handsome young man inspect the flowers trailing along the pavilion where the luncheon was being held.Aly appeared behind Dove’s shoulder. “He's the best of your suitors.”“He's not my suitor,” Dove said. Then, revealing her regard for him, she murmured, “Why do you think so?”
Relationships: Dovasary Balitang/Briar Moss, Liam of Conté/Sandrilene fa Toren
Series: New Magic [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2120844
Comments: 18
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically a follow up to New Magic, so it has some spoilers to that story, but I don't think you'll be confused if you read this by itself.

Queen Dovasary Balitang of the Copper Isles watched the handsome young man inspect the flowers trailing along the pavilion where the luncheon was being held.

Aly appeared behind Dove’s shoulder. “He's the best of your suitors.”

“He's not my suitor,” Dove said. Then, revealing her regard for him, she murmured, “Why do you think so?”

Aly stood silent for a moment, waving cheerfully when the man looked over and winked at them. “I like that he’s foreign.” 

“So both the raka and luarin will be furious,” Dove said, surprising herself with her stinging bitterness. Navigating tensions in the Copper Isles was hardly rewarding work. Lately the only person who could make Dove laugh and briefly forget about her problems of state was a certain insolent gardener.

“No,” Aly disagreed. “He’s neutral, and rapidly learning Kyprish. The people would be no more upset with him as your Consort than with anyone else. He’s politically connected, but not a Copper Isles noble, so we won’t be afraid that he’s trying to claim your throne. Rebels with think twice about challenging a mage who helped destroy the entire Scanran army. Despite being a mage, no one can accuse him of influencing you with anything other than beautiful flowers. You could charm the people into liking him by sending him to help with crop cycles.”

“I don’t think Briar Moss can be _sent_ anywhere,” Dove said idly, hiding her surprise at how much thought Aly had put into her answer. Her spymaster was too observant.

“Perhaps not,” Aly chuckled. “I will replace my last point with this more important one: you deserve love and a good partner.”

Dove didn’t know anything about love, so she tallied the political connections Aly had mentioned. Briar’s sisters were all powerful mages who had married well in Tortall. Lady Sandrilene had introduced Briar to the Copper Isles while she was on a diplomatic mission with her her husband, Prince Liam. The couple had charmed Dove’s whole court. Sarai had recently written that even fickle Carthak had loved them when they had visited Emperor Kaddar and Empress Kalasin. 

Aly had informed Dove that another sister, Daja, was married to Lady Keladry of Mindelan, the Commander of the King’s Own. The other sister, Trisana Chandler, had made a name for herself by creating a magical border wall between Scanra and Tortall with the famous Numair Salmalin. Aly was personally fond of Tris because Trisana Chandler had met Thom of Pirate’s Swoop in the Corus library and fallen in love during their ensuing debate about the magical properties of different stones. Now she was Lady Tris, Thom’s wife. Aly had joked that the men in her family had a genetic predisposition for loving grumpy women. Her brother Alan was finally betrothed to Princess Lianne, who was also notoriously sharp-tongued. 

Dove hoped Briar didn't just think of Dove as a queen he needed to flatter. Dove wanted more from Briar. She wanted romantic evening walks instead of platonic ones. Dove also hoped that Aly didn’t realize her normally sensible queen was engaging in fanciful daydreams. 

* * *

With a careful eye on the Queen of the Copper Isles and her spymaster, Sandry approached her brother, who had placed himself within perfect view of the Queen. 

_What do you think of her?_ Sandry asked silently.

A thin vine wrapped itself around Briar’s wrist. _Didn’t they teach Your Highness that simple gardeners can’t think about royalty. Besides, I need to swear off nobility now that you girls have been caught up in all that._

Sandry rolled her eyes. _We fell in love._

_That doesn’t mean I have to._

Sandry was convinced Briar had already fallen in love. She had never expected the young queen to bond so quickly with Briar, but in retrospect it made sense. Briar’s way of joking and teasing could charm anyone, especially a serious ruler who needed more silliness in her life. It had started when Dove gave a Copper Isles gardening book to Briar. Afterwards, new books that Sandry knew were from Dove occasionally appeared in Briar’s hands. 

Now the sight of Briar and Dove strolling in the gardens during the evenings was common. Sandry often spotted Dove holding bouquets, or with flowers tucked in her hair. Sandry, especially romantic now that she and her sisters were married, hoped for a wonderful romance between Briar and Dove. Despite Sandry’s machinations, their friendship persisted. 

Briar spoke aloud. “I’m thinking about visiting the other islands soon.”

“Don’t,” Sandry said, adding, _You’re needed here._

“You’re so prissy,” Briar observed. _Keep your nose out of my business._

Annoyed, Sandry walked away to find Liam. When she finally drew him away from the clamoring nobles who wanted to talk to a Prince of Tortall, she said, “Tell Aly to lock them in a closet. Nothing else will work. They’re too stubborn.”

Liam wouldn’t say anything, but Sandry knew he was conspiring with his childhood friend to matchmake Dove and Briar.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Liam demurred. “But if I did, I would call that treason.”

Sandry stomped her foot. “It’s not treason if it’s for their own good.” 

Aly appeared close to them. “The walls are listening, darlings.”

Sandry wanted to scream with frustration. Instead she said to Aly, “Do something, will you? You masterminded a revolution. I know you have tricks up your sleeves.”

Aly raised her bare arms. “I have no sleeves.”

Liam tucked Sandry into his side, stopping her from magically weaving sleeves for Aly to prove her point. “Aly, don’t tease Sandry. You know she finds the heat here difficult.”

Sandry struggled against Liam’s solid arm trapping her waist. She dealt fine with the heat. It was the annoying people around her that she found difficult.

“I do approve of your wife, Liam,” Aly said calmly. “But she’s quite impatient.”

“I know,” Liam said, his thumb brushing against Sandry’s waist. “I love that about her.”

Still angry, Sandry finally removed herself to find some calming lemonade. 

* * *

Dove reached Princess Sandrilene at the refreshments table. She was greedily sipping a lemonade, looking quite flushed.

“Are you too hot, Lady Sandry?” Dove asked, concerned.

Sandry paused. “Don’t get married, Your Majesty. It only gives your spouse permission to annoy you for the rest of your life.”

Surprised, Dove laughed. She spied Aly and Prince Liam whispering to each other. That meant trouble.

Dove confided, “Before I was queen I thought the crown would stop my friends and family from teasing me, but it really gives them more material to use.”

Sandry finished her lemonade, now looking calmer. “I imagine it would.” Sandry’s blue eyes settled on Briar, who was walking over to them. “Briar only calls me Your Highness when he thinks I’m acting pompous.”

Briar clearly overheard Sandry. He bowed insolently low. “Your Majesty, Your Highness.”

Briar’s tanned skin glowed in the Kyprish sun, making his green eyes astonishingly bright. Dove always silently agreed with the young ladies and gentlemen of the Court who tittered over how handsome Briar was. Even Sarai, Dove thought, would have at one point pursued Briar. He was tall and leanly muscled, with a jawline that Dove, in her many weak moments, found herself staring at. 

Dove had met handsome men before. They often paraded before her, hoping she would swoon into their arms and make them Prince Consort of the Copper Isles. These men treated Dove like a delicate doll with no sense or thoughts of her own. If Dove didn’t send them on their way, then Aly would. 

Though Dove knew Briar kept careful track of the people around him, he was attractively unconcerned with petty politics. Instead of gossip, which amused Aly more than Dove, Briar provided interesting stories. He asked for Dove’s opinions on everything, even the gardens, while growing delicate flowers to put in her hair. Briar was parts wicked and parts gentle. Dove never knew what to do with him. She wanted Sarai’s coyness, so she could respond to Briar’s flirting with anything other than her usual girlish blushes and stammering.

“Your Majesty” Sandry said. Dove tore her eyes from Briar’s face to look at Sandry. “Briar was telling me earlier that now that his sisters are settled he should find someone too. What do you think of Lady Karalie?”

Dove gaped at her as Briar spluttered, “I did not say that! Sandry!” He tugged on Sandry’s long braid. 

Dove knew she was caught in an argument between Briar and Sandry, but that didn’t explain why both of them were looking at her. 

“Fine,” Sandry said, nose in the air. “Perhaps someone else will suit better. I’ll go see who I can find.” She walked away. 

Dove looked at Briar. 

“Ignore her,” Briar said, holding Dove’s gaze. “Sandry is making up for the absence of our other sisters by being more annoying than the three of them are combined.”

“Are they truly that annoying?” Dove asked.

“Of course,” Briar said. “I would also do anything for them. You understand. I met the Lady Saraiyu when I was briefly in Carthak.”

“What did you think of her?” Dove asked, prepared for the usual comments that Sarai was the most beautiful woman in the world. Dove wished Briar was an ugly old man with a cold lump of rock for a heart. That would make him significantly easier to deal with. 

Ignoring Dove’s silent wishes, Briar chuckled. “It was fun to watch her run circles around everyone in Carthak. Luckily she’s not the woman for me, as she’s deeply in love with her husband.” 

“Oh, good,” Dove said intelligently. 

“You also run circles around everyone here,” Briar said. “But it’s subtle, so it’s much more amusing.”

“I don’t,” Dove lied, although she was blushing at Briar’s compliment.

“Yes, you do. Except perhaps the Lady Aly.” He gestured to where Sandry had rejoined Liam and Aly. “You know they’re scheming?”

“Yes,” Dove said. “Do you know what they’re talking about?” Dove had her guesses, but she wanted to hear what Briar knew. 

“The same thing that I’m scheming about.”

“Which is?” Dove demanded, oddly scared that she was falling into a trap. 

“You,” Briar said simply. 

Dove was sure her brain was broken when the only word she could manage was, “Oh.”

Briar, not helping Dove’s troubling brain condition, moved in front of Dove so she had nowhere to look but into his mischievous face. 

“I don’t want them to make a stupid plan that will end up prolonging the inevitable.”

“What is the inevitable?” Dove asked. 

Dove shivered when Briar moved dangerously closer, his lips brushing her ear.“That on one of our evening walks I’m going to kiss you.” 

“Oh,” Dove stuttered. “I suppose it would be too exciting for all these nobles if you did that here. They might faint and then I would have a political crisis on my hands.”

Fortunately, Briar looked amused by her errant thoughts. Unfortunately, his gentle smile urged Dove to cause a political crisis. She kissed him. 

Too soon, Dove’s queenly sensibilities returned. She removed Briar’s hand from her waist. 

Briar looked delightfully ruffled. He cleared his throat. “Dove.” 

Dove took a deep breath, barely resisting the urge to press her lips to his jaw and find out how he would react to that. “Briar.” 

Dove glanced at the staring people around them. Even Aly was surprised, which pleased Dove, although her faithful raka guards looked ready to start another war. 

“The nobles are going to faint,” Briar said, noticing her gaze. 

“Good,” Dove said recklessly. She rearranged herself back into the poise a queen needed. “I’ll see you this evening for our walk,” Dove said primly. 

Not bothering to hide his flashing grin, Briar bowed. “It’s been a pleasure, Your Majesty.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow up drabbles I couldn’t help but write.

George’s reports about the four foreign mages were always amusing, but this one was his favorite.

Chuckling, he told Jon, “Briar Moss is going marry Queen Dovasary.”

Jon’s reply was quick. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not. If only Aly told me then I would think this was an elaborate prank, but Tris also told Thom and Liam reported the same news. The wedding is in a few months.” 

“Do we have details about it?” Jon asked weakly. 

George made an exaggerated show of checking his notes. “Aly’s been kicking my Palace spies out, so I’m planning to attend the royal wedding and collect information myself.”

Jon grumbled under his breath, “I’m sure you have no personal interest.”

George grinned, rocking back on his heels. “What can I say? He’s a lad after my own heart, and I can go see my Aly and my grandchildren.” 

* * *

Briar’s sisters invaded Rajmuat for the wedding. Dove wanted to meet them without stifling royal protocol, so Briar snuck his sisters into the courtyard outside Dove’s apartments one evening. Briar and Dove were careful of how they acted in public, but with Briar’s siblings they allowed themselves the freedom of casual touches and teasing. Briar was delighted when dinner passed with lots of laughter and traded stories.

Afterwards his sisters couldn’t stop hugging Briar. 

“Rosethorn would be so proud of you,” Sandry said, not bothering to hide her emotional sniffles. “You’ve finally grown up.”

On a tour of the Grey Palace the next day, Tris noticed the thorn walls and sharp rose bushes Briar had placed where they could tangle any intruders with only a spark of Briar’s magic.

Briar guessed Tris’s thoughts. “It’s not war magic,” he said. “I’m not doing it for the Isles or for politics. It’s to keep Dove safe, because my future wife happens to be the head of a delicate country.”

Tris’s tense shoulders loosened. “You’re a good man, Briar.”

Briar grimaced. “Don’t say that out loud. I’m trying to maintain a mean reputation so the annoying nobles don’t bother me.” 

Briar’s mean reputation had not prevented Dove’s advisors from making plans for him. After the wedding, Dove and Briar were going to tour the Copper Isles. One of Briar’s duties was to check the planting fields, as the Copper Isles were still recovering from a famine. Briar insisted he was only doing this to spare Dove a few headaches, but Dove’s advisors had rightfully accused Briar of becoming fond of the Copper Isles. Briar was growing roots into the soil here. 

* * *

While Briar divested Dove of her ruined dress after The Incident, he told her that he guessed his proximity to the paint job and his gardening clothes made Master Toran think Briar was his missing worker. At the time, he had been very confused when the small, anxious man stomped over to him. 

“You!” He growled, pointing at Briar. “You are late!”

“ _Me?_ ” Briar asked. “Who are you?”

“Master Toran! Stop looking at the flowers. We’re behind schedule. I can’t believe my brother hired such a lackwit!”

“Well,” Briar remarked. “This will get me out of my other committments.” 

Briar was scheduled to have a lunch with Aly in an hour, but he thought she would be just as amused about this as Briar was. 

“ _This_ is your committment. You were supposed to be here an hour ago!”

“What are we doing?” Briar asked. 

Master Toran’s glare could peel the paint that he explained they were supposed to be putting on the palace walls. Briar had once painted houses for spare change while travelling with Rosethorn, so he fit in well enough with the paint crew. 

Briar enjoyed chatting with the workers while they perched on tall ladders. They were more amusing and down-to-earth than the usual nobility Briar had to contend with. One old man, Andor, had been painting the palace for decades. He told Briar dozens of stories about the crazy Rittevons.

“Where are you from?” He asked Briar. 

Briar tilted his head to inspect his paint strokes. “I was in Tortall before this.”

“What brought you here?”

“My wife is from here.” Briar felt guilty lying to Andor so he admitted, “I’m not actually a painter. Toran made a mistake and I didn’t have a chance to argue with him.”

Andor laughed. “Toran will be glad he’s not obligated to pay you. What do you do?”

“Usually I’m a gardener.” 

Andor maintained a vegetable garden at home, so they started discussing fertilizing methods. Briar had happily gained an invitation to visit Andor’s garden that weekend when the painters around them started shuffling and awkwardly bowing from the ladders and wooden frames.

Briar peered from his ladder to see Dove bent over, laughing hysterically nearby. 

“You have to earn your keep somehow,” she called out. “But I didn’t expect this.”

“Is Her Magesty talking to us?” Andor muttered. The other painters were confused, frozen in their bows. 

Briar, not bowing, waved at her. “Where are you going?”

“I was looking for you. I’m free for the rest of the day.”

“Good,” Briar said. To Toran, who looked ready to murder Briar, he said, “I’ll cover this expense.” 

Briar reached over and dumped a portion of the bright red paint meant for the shutters on the Queen of the Copper Isles.

Dove shrieked, “Get down here!”

Enjoying the scene, Briar started climbing down. “As you command, Your Majesty.”

All of the painters, except for Andor, were in danger of falling of their ladders in shock. Andor made eye contact with Briar and shook his head. 

“She’s your wife, isn’t she?” 

Briar nodded. “I hope I’m still invited to your garden. If Dove is free, she’ll come.”

Andor shrugged. “That’s fine.” 

When Briar neared the bottom of the ladder, he was roughly grabbed by a member of the Queen’s Guard. 

“You’re being arrested for the disturbing the peace and assualting Her Majesty,” the guard said gruffly. 

Briar chuckled, further amused to see that Dove was clutching her stomach as she laughed. 

Briar held out his hands. “Lock me up.” To Dove he said, “Will you visit me in jail, my love?

The guardsman cuffed Briar’s shoulder. “Don’t talk to Her Magesty like that, cad!”

Dove picked up her paint-splattered skirts and ran over. “No, no! That’s _Briar! My husband!_ ”

Dove pulled Briar from the guard’s stunned grasp. Briar took her paint covered face in his hands and kissed her, smearing paint on himself. 

“Thank you for keeping my days interesting,” Dove murmured. She used the hand that wasn’t clutching Briar’s shirt to wave at the astounded paint crew. “I’ll take him off your hands now,” she fought through another giggle, “I’m sorry for the trouble he’s caused, and thank you for your hard work.”

Toran deepened his bow, nearly falling off the ladder. “No trouble at all, Your Magesty, Your Highness.”

“If you ever need a spare painter you know where to find me,” Briar joked. 

Briar trotted after Dove when she whispered that she was going to need his help in the bath to get the paint out of her hair. He wasn’t the only troublesome royal in the palace. 


	3. Chapter 3

Briar lay down next to his wife, glad she was napping on a blanket in the late afternoon sun. Dove was a workaholic. Briar had been telling her to take a break for weeks now.

A strap of Dove’s thin dress had slid off her shoulder. Briar gently brushed a finger against a slight tan line that was revealed, only a light touch so he wouldn’t disturb her. The courtyard outside their rooms was thankfully secluded by walls and magic. Unless the sky fell down, Briar and Dove had absolute privacy.

Briar swallowed. If he had told himself back when he was Roach that he would marry a queen and be happy about it, Briar would have sent himself to the nearest asylum. The twists that brought Briar from the tunnels of Hajra to this courtyard in the Grey Palace were beyond Briar’s comprehension. 

One hand resting on Dove’s waist, Briar also dozed off, opening his eyes when a movement from Dove softly woke him up. 

“Hmmm?” he murmured, stretching out. Through lidded eyes Briar saw that Dove was sitting up. Her black hair was loose, having fallen out of her usual plait. Briar reached out to touch the long strands. Dove had confided that she loved how the tattooed garden on Briar’s hands looked on her dark skin when he touched her, and Briar too drank in the sight of her hair tangled with the exuberant flowers on his fingertips. 

Dove slid down, propping herself on Briar’s chest. Her smile was warm, if still sleepy.

“You’re too beautiful,” Briar said, voicing his thoughts to keep his chest from bursting open with love. 

Dove still blushed at everything Briar said or did. Thinking it was adorable, Briar stroked a gentle fingertip on Dove’s flushed cheek.

“I napped,” she said proudly.

“I know,” Briar said, looking into her dark eyes. He took a deep breath, savoring his happiness. “How did that happen?”

Dove pouted. “Aly kicked me out.”

Briar’s thumb brushed against Dove’s full mouth. Sometimes Briar was mystified by how his sweet, serious queen affected him so completely. On days like today Briar understood it perfectly. This doubly royal woman made Briar happy and he made her happy. Those feelings transcended the differences between queens and gardeners. 

“Why did Aly kick you out?” Briar asked. He and Aly liked to argue with each other. Aly insisted squabbles were necessary because they were family; Briar’s sister was married to Aly’s brother.

“She said,” Dove answered in a mischievously sultry tone, “that I’ve been in a bad mood recently and I needed to find my husband and return in a good mood.”

Briar laughed, unsurprised Aly was now arranging this part of their lives as well. Dove’s thigh slipped between Briar’s legs. He rolled them over, trapping Dove underneath him, a strong grip capturing her wrists above her head.

Briar paused, his only movement the brush of his thumb against her wrist, as he took a moment to admire the lovely spread of Dove’s hair, the teeth biting into her lip. He wanted to taste everywhere her blush was spreading. 

“Briar,” Dove whined impatiently. 

“Yes, Dovasary?” Briar had discovered he loved the way Dove’s full name rolled off his tongue in their intimate moments. 

“I waited so long for you that I fell asleep. I enjoyed very pleasant dreams, but please don’t make me wait longer.” 

“Tell me what you want,” Briar said, as calmly as he could manage while Dove shifted under him. 

Dove melted, as Briar knew she would, when he put his mouth on a specific spot where her neck met her shoulder.

“I want,” she said through a moan, blushing heavily. “Fuck, you know what I want.”

Making Dove swear was another of Briar’s favorite activities. “Tell me.”

Briar became dizzy with want when Dove graphically described what she had in mind. 

Afterwards, her blush still high in her cheeks, Dove traced a pattern on Briar’s shoulder and said, “I’ve been in a bad mood because I don’t want you to leave.”

“I know,” Briar murmured sympathetically. As the date he was scheduled to leave Rajmuat approached Dove had become unusually bad-tempered.

“I know you need to visit Tris because she’s about to have a baby,” Dove continued. “And you haven’t been to Tortall since you left, but I want to go with you. I can never go anywhere.” 

Although her kingdom grew more stable everyday, it still needed her and Dove could not leave. Dove was the dutiful and responsible Queen the Copper Isles needed, but she was also a young woman who sometimes chafed at the infinite restrictions placed on her. 

Briar’s words couldn’t change reality, but he offered what he could. “What do you want me to bring back for you?”

Dove’s smile into his shoulder told Briar that although he didn’t think any gift would be good enough, Dove was pleased by the offer. 

“More books for our library,” she said instantly. “And whatever else you think I would like. But mostly you.”

* * *

Two months later the palace mages said Briar’s ship was due to return that evening. Intent on waiting up, Dove stationed herself in their room with expense reports. After the long days of work without Briar to lean on, Dove was desperate to see her husband. She paused to let her eyes rest for a moment, but instead she promptly fell asleep.

She fluttered open her eyes when she was lifted out of the chair, her head resting on a familiar shoulder. “You’re back,” she murmured to Briar.

“Shhh,” Briar kissed her forehead. “Go back to sleep.” Dove closed her eyes again, drifting off so quickly that she didn’t notice when Briar placed her on their bed. 

Dove awoke the next morning to find Briar’s arm draped across her waist. She shifted and saw him watching her. The lethargy of deep sleep vanished. 

“You’re here! You’re here!” Dove exclaimed, clinging to him, hands roving everywhere to confirm that this wasn’t one of the many dreams she’d had since he left. “Why didn’t you properly wake me up when you got back?”

Briar murmured, “You’re so pretty when you’re asleep,” One of his hands stroked Dove’s thigh, the promise in the gentle touch making Dove tremble, “and when you’re awake.” 

Dove couldn’t contain her excitement. She kissed him deeply, breathing in his familiar earthy scent. “You’re never leaving again. I’m going to make a royal decree.” 

“That’s fine,” Briar said. “I have all I want right here.”

Dove knew some people thought Prince Consort Briar was too misbehaving. It was the opinion of everyone who watched Briar shut down pompous nobles, pour paint on her, or steal sweets from the kitchens. Dove was glad that only she knew how sweet Briar was during their private moments. So much of Dove’s life as queen was public and commented on, so she carefully guarded her and Briar’s secrets, one of them being that only Briar knew how wicked Dove could be.

During their late breakfast, Briar showed Dove the presents he had brought from Tortall. It was a large selection, including books that he and Tris had chosen, jewels that Queen Thayet had insisted he give to Dove, some plants that were actually for him, and intriguing tapestries. 

“Sandry made the tapestries,” Briar said. There were two tapestries. One was of a small cottage with a large garden beside it. The other was a view of a city. 

“That’s the cottage in Winding Circle I grew up in,” Briar explained, pointing at the first one. “And the other one is a view of Corus. Touch them.”

Curious, Dove placed a hand beside the cottage on the first tapestry. She was transported into a scene of young Sandry yelling at a furious older man while Briar hid behind her with his _shaakan_. Briar had told Dove this story. Now it was woven into a tapestry.

Eyes wide, Dove looked at Briar, who was smiling widely. 

“Which memory was it?” he asked.

“When you stole your _shaakan_. Sandry did this?”

Reaching down to also touch the tapestry, Briar nodded. “She first made a memory tapestry for Liam, and I helped her with the ideas for these two. It’s the closest thing to travel I could find.”

Dove embraced him. “I love it. I love you.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another drabble :)

Lola, a servant in the Grey Palace, had recently been given an unexpected promotion to become the serving girl to the Queen and Prince Consort. Lola had been told it was because she was very good at working unnoticed by nobility.

After being promoted, she was less good at blending into the background, but that was because Her Majesty and His Highness were strange nobles. They noticed her. 

Lord Briar, as Lola called him because ‘just Briar’ was far too informal, would nod in acknowledgement when he saw Lola scurrying in the halls. Queen Dovasary often inquired over Lola’s life and family. She asked for Lola’s opinions on dresses and jewelry. 

Lola’s professional heart softened early on when she was tidying up Queen Dovasary’s office late at night while the queen was asleep at her desk, her cheek resting on a thick pile of papers. Lord Briar walked in and quietly greeted Lola. With the ease of having done this before, Lord Briar picked up the queen and cradled her in his arms as he carried her out of the office. Lola was glad. She had been worried about the deep circles under her queen’s eyes. Dove frequently fell asleep at her desk, and without fail Lord Briar found her and carried her to bed. 

“They’re damned odd,” Lola still muttered to a friend when they walked home from the palace. That day Lola had discovered Lord Briar sneaking into Queen Dovasary’s office with a bouquet of wildflowers while his wife was in a meeting in a different room. Lord Briar had entered through the window. When Lola had silently pointed at the door, His Highness had said, “the window is more exciting,” and then clambered back out. 

“He’s damned handsome,” her friend said dreamily. 

Lola wondered if she was the couple’s serving girl because she was one of the few in the Palace who didn’t fancy Lord Briar. Women, particularly Lola’s wife, were too beautiful for Lola to find men attractive. 

On a rare afternoon off, Lola returned home to the absolute shock of seeing Lord Briar in her own garden at her small townhouse in Rajmuat.

“Lola!” He greeted, delighted. “You live here?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Nonplussed, Lola curtsied. Petra also dropped into a deep curtsy. 

“Please don’t curtsy in your own garden,” he said, looking uncomfortable. Then, understanding Lola’s desperate need for this to make sense, explained, “I was admiring your wife’s collection of fruit trees. I’m still learning about some of the plants here on the Isles.”

“I didn’t know you were the Prince Consort,” Petra murmured, blushing.

Lord Briar made a face. “I’m a simple gardener.”

“Would you like some tea?” Lola offered, unsure of the required protocol.

“No, thank you,” he said. “You already work too hard in the Palace. I’ll go.”

Lola stammered as His Highness cheerfully left the garden.

Petra sank onto a nearby chair. “I never suspected he was His Highness. I always thought you were exaggerating your stories about them, but now I understand.”

“I wasn’t exaggerating,” Lola agreed. 

Lord Briar was constantly mistaken for a regular gardener. One guard was so nervous of being caught wrong-footed that he called every gardener Your Highness. There was a good-natured running joke among the palace workers that behaving as a proper Prince Consort was the only palace job Lord Briar _wouldn’t_ do. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: some violence and gore depicted

Briar’s stiffened shoulders alerted Dove there was a problem. Seconds later, she heard a crash 

Dove could handle herself in a political crisis. She knew what to do when workers went on strike or how to ease a diplomatic mix up. She was not prepared for yelling and swords clashing while preparing for bed in the guest chambers of a noble house in Lombyn. 

Dove froze, her only thought that she didn’t know what to do, but Briar pressed a long dagger into her hand and pushed her into the wardrobe, his green eyes locking with hers before he closed the door. Dove shuffled behind the dresses at the back of the wardrobe before she sank to her knees and tried to pray. Her earnest prayers couldn’t distract her hearing the door to their bedchamber shoved open. 

Dove held the dagger in the strong grip Briar had taught her, pointing it at the door. She hoped that if one of the enemy soldiers opened the door she would have the courage to stab him. 

The wardrobe rattled as a soldier stumbled into it’s side. There were shouts for Briar to give up and tell them where the Queen was, followed by helpless screams. The wardrobe barely muffled the noises, but in the darkness Dove had no clue of what was happening. Briar was a mage, but he was one man. 

Again, Dove tried to pray.

Tears trickled down Dove’s cheeks. It was clear what had led to the soldiers breaking into her room. The luarin Therao family of Lombyn had been restless since the revolution. Dove had allowed them to retain their noble title, but she had forced them to cheaply sell most of their land back to the people. Dove and her royal household had traveled to Lombyn to intimidate them with royal power. Aly also wanted to see for herself what the Therao family was up to. Dove wondered if the Therao family was planning on seizing the throne for themselves or if they just wanted to secede Lombyn from the Isles. Were they working with other families? Dove needed to know. 

Dove’s fingernails stabbed her palm as she gripped the dagger more tightly. The fight was winding down, but that made Dove’s heart beat frantically. What if it was winding down because one of the men’s swords had landed on Briar?

The door opened, brightening the tiny wardrobe.

Dove brandished her dagger, preparing to stab someone. 

“Dove, it’s me. Come out.”

That was Briar’s voice. A ready tear slipped out of the corner of Dove’s eye as she pushed back the dresses and scrambled towards him. He carefully guided her out with a gentle grip on her arm. 

Dove stared at the battlefield of the room. All of the men miraculously looked alive, but vines tied and gagged them to the floor. Branches that had grown out of the floor, the bedframe, the desk, and every wooden surface, gripped other soldiers to the walls. Swords and Briar’s daggers lay on the floor. One of Briar’s daggers was in a man’s arm. Dove’s gaze stuck to a branch of thorns pinning a man on the floor. A thorny vine was growing straight through his leg.

Briar had done that. Trembling, Dove jerked out of Briar’s grasp.

“Dove,” Briar said quietly, noticing her reticence, surely seeing the waver to her lip.

Her eyes flew to his face, the clench of his jaw. There was blood smeared on his forehead and a cut on his jaw. Of course he had done this. What else would he have done? Let the men kill him? Stood by while they captured his wife?

“Dovasary,” Briar repeated.

Dove collapsed into him. She should be comforting him. Here she was breaking down when Briar was the one who would wash the blood off his hands.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” she sobbed, apologizing for the moment she had been disgusted by his violence, her brief fear of his magic, and for being the reason he had needed to cause such devastation. “Briar, I’m so sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.”

Briar’s arms pressed Dove closer into his chest. She felt him rest his chin on her head and take a deep breath as she cried into his shirt. With anyone else Dove would have grasped her queenly dignity and wiped her eyes, but Dove trusted Briar completely.

Briar pushed Dove behind him when they heard more clatters down the hallway. When the door opened Dove peaked around his shoulder to see the tattered Queen’s Guard rush in. The guardsmen stared at the at the twenty odd men who were tied up in the room. Dove, their queen, was still holding a dagger against her rumpled blue nightgown while she stood behind Briar, who also held a dagger, his white shirt ruined by blood spatters. 

Briar narrowed his eyes. “What am I supposed to do with a Queen’s Guard that doesn’t protect the Queen?”

This was fury Dove had never seen from Briar, even in his most tempestuous moments. The Queen’s Guard looked rightly terrified of the man who had singlehandedly withstood a squadron of enemy soldiers.

The guardsmen stammered out apologies. “My Lord, we were trapped,” one said, another muttering, “not our fault.” 

Dove’s own voice was hard. “How did this happen? Where is Sir Taybur?”

A hapless guard said, “The Therao family wanted to kill Your Majesty. They took us all by surprise.”

Dove barely keep the sarcastic ‘ _Obviously’_ out of her mouth.

“I would argue,” Briar said slowly, dangerously. “That your job is to _not_ be taken by surprise. Your job is to _anticipate_ surprises.”

The man bowed. “Our deepest apologies, Your Majesty, Your Highness.”

“Spare me. If I wasn’t a mage your Queen might be dead.”

Silence reigned after Briar’s flat view of the situation. Even Dove, who had heard the fight, gripped Briar’s arm more tightly. 

Disgusted, Briar said, “Aly will have enough to say to you about your failure.”

The guards paled further. 

“Is anyone else hurt?” Dove asked.

“Only a few guards, Your Majesty. The Therao family drugged the servants and soldiers to sleep, but you were the only target.”

“Have you at least found us a safe escape?” Briar asked.

The same guard cleared his throat. “Yes. When Lady Aly informed us of secret passages in the castle that lead us to the harbor. She will meet us there.” 

Aly would have answers, Dove thought as Briar found a hooded cloak for her. He held her close, still looking warily at the guardsmen as they were ushered out of the devastated room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're just fun to write about!

**Author's Note:**

> teehee i’m actually obsessed with them. Please leave comments or kudos!


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